体验非洲野犬研究营

十几岁的时候,大多数人都在学校舒舒服服地上课、跟同学玩耍吧。来自美国的麦克纳特兄弟则选择跟随父母前往非洲的野犬研究营,过起露营生活。野外生活是怎样的呢?一起来感受一下吧。而在下一篇文章里,我们请来他们的父亲为大家介绍非洲野犬这种珍稀动物,看看它们与一般家犬有何不同。

Imagine living in a place where you and your brother are the only kids. Where everyone lives in tents, and there’s a fire burning all the time for warmth and cooking.

Where wild animals walk or run past day and night. Where the nearest village is a 20-minute ride away.

Madison McNutt, 12, and his brother Wilder, 8, live in the southern African country of Botswana at Wild Dog Research Camp, where their father studies wild dogs and other big predators[食肉动物]. Their mother works with local children, teaching them about conservation[保护] of the natural world.

Camp Set-Up

More than a dozen adults live at dog camp, including their teacher, workers to help cook and keep the camp clean, and college students who have come to learn about wildlife. Wilder describes the set-up: “Fifteen tents in camp: ten for researchers and five for camp staff. We also have an office and an underground office (because it gets hot in the day and underground it is cool), a kitchen, a garage tent, and a laundry tent.” And they have a small museum where they keep all the bones and skulls and teeth of animals they find.

Boys’ Tent

The boys live in their own tent attached to[连在……上] their parents’, several feet off the ground like a tree house. The camp toilet is a hole in the ground, and everyone showers and bathes outside under the stars. Sometimes at night, the boys spot animals like hyenas[土狼,鬣狗] that come to the birdbath[供鸟饮用和嬉水的盆] in camp for a drink. Sometimes there is a lot of excitement.

Wildlife

“The wildlife at night is very dangerous,” says Wilder, “so you have to be extremely careful. Last night, some hyenas killed an impala[黑斑羚] in camp. They made a huge ruckus[喧闹,骚动] and I was up for about two hours listening to the noise.”

School

The boys attend class in camp about four months out of the year; Madison’s favorite part of the day is when school gets out. “Then I can go do other stuff, like going out with some of the students to research cheetahs[猎豹] or wild dogs or lions or hyenas or leopards.”

Favorite Animals

Madison, who wants to train dogs for the movies when he grows up, likes the wild dogs the best: “They are very social animals and are always nice to each other.” Both boys have learned a lot about the animals their father works to understand and protect.

Wilder’s favorite animal is the leopard. He says, “They are very strong and they are beautiful. They were here first and it would be sad if they were not here to look at.”

想象一下居住在这样一个地方――你和弟弟是该地区唯一的两个孩子。在这里,所有人都住在帐篷里,还有一团火不停燃烧,用来取暖、煮食;野生动物在这里徘徊、奔跑,不分昼夜;离此地最近的村庄要驱车20分钟才能到达。

12岁的麦迪逊・麦克纳特和8岁的弟弟怀尔德住在位于非洲南部国家博茨瓦纳的野犬研究营里。他们的父亲在这里从事野犬和其他大型食肉动物的研究工作。母亲则为当地的孩子工作,教导他们如何保护大自然。

营地结构

野犬营里住了十多个大人,包括老师、帮忙煮饭和打扫营地卫生的工人,以及来这里学习野生动植物知识的大学生。怀尔德这样描述营地的结构:“营地里有15顶帐篷:10顶是研究人员的,5顶给营地职员。我们还有一间地上办公室和一间地下办公室(因为白天很热,地下比较凉快)、一个厨房、一个汽车帐篷以及一个洗衣帐篷。”另外,营地里还有一所小型博物馆,用来收藏所有找到的动物骨头、头骨和牙齿。

小男孩的帐篷

两个男孩住在自己的帐篷里。他们的帐篷和父母的连在一起,离地面几英尺高,就像一间小树屋。营地的厕所就是地上的一个洞,大家都在星空下露天洗澡。有几个晚上,男孩们还会发现土狼等动物到营地的水盆喝水。这里不时出现各种激动人心的经历。

野生动物

“到了晚上,野生动物变得非常危险,”怀尔德说,“所以你必须非常小心。昨晚,几只土狼在营地里杀死了一只黑斑羚。它们引起了一阵骚动。我被噪音吵醒了,听它们吵闹了大约两个小时。”

上学

一年中,孩子们在营地的上课时间约为4个月。麦迪逊每天最开心的时候就是放学以后。“(放学后)我可以做其他事情,比如跟一些学生出去研究猎豹、野犬、狮子、土狼或美洲豹等等。”

最喜爱的动物

麦迪逊希望长大以后能够为电影训练狗只,他最喜欢野犬:“它们是群体性很强的动物,总能和睦相处。” 他们的父亲致力于了解和保护这些动物,两个男孩也学到了很多相关知识。

怀尔德最喜欢的动物是美洲豹。他说:“它们很强壮,也很漂亮。它们是这里最早的居民,如果(以后)不能在这里看到它们的踪影,那实在太让人伤心了。”